Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale

'Going Beyond the Pale'

Matt Ogborn in Inside
Out, December 1998

Inside Out is a 24-page full colour Arts
Supplement that goes out to something like 40,000 homes inside
various titles (Surrey Mirror, Dorking Advertiser, Leatherhead
Advertiser) run by the Surrey and Sussex Newspaper group.
This piece, accompanied by a colour picture, was billed as the
Star Interview, and is reproduced by permission of the author and
the Arts Editor.

A true legend of the rock scene hosts an evening of music next
Friday.

Gary Brooker, lead vocalist and founder member of Procol
Harum, has assembled a heavyweight line-up for the event, staged
at the Civic Hall,
Guildford on December 18.

Gary, who has lived in the Guildford area for more than 25
years, will be remembered by many as the voice behind the No 1
hit A Whiter Shade of Pale which wowed listeners in 1967.

Every year he hosts Christmas gigs for charity with celebrity
guests under the alias of No Stiletto Shoes.

This year's set, in aid of local charities, will be bigger
than ever.

'We have really gone out on a limb,' he told me when I caught
up with him last week.

This year's charity for Gary is Cherry
Trees, based in East Clandon. It provides short-term help for
handicapped children, and is one of many to benefit from a Gary
Brooker experience.

Earlier in the year Gary joined Ringo Starr and his All-Starr
band to raise 150,000 pounds for local charities at a special
Charity Concert at Wintershall,
Bramley – and 77,000 pounds of that money went towards
completing the Cancer Day Care Centre at Guildford Hospital.

'Live onstage I prefer to have other musicians around me,'
Gary said. 'I am not essentially a solo performer.'

Among the musicians joining him for next week's event are Andy
Fairweather-Low, former lead singer with Amen Corner, and Paul
Carrack, lead vocalist / keyboard player of Squeeze and Mike and
the Mechanics fame.

The Robbie McIntosh Band, which is supporting Gary, also
boasts some of the world's leading musicians, including ex-Pretender
/ McCartney lead guitarist Robbie, and bass-player Pino
Palladino, who has worked with Eric Clapton. Robbie describes his
music as 'Nashville meets Chicago'.

Last year saw the thirtieth anniversary of Procol Harum and A
Whiter Shade of Pale.

It was celebrated at the Harlequin Theatre in Redhill. About
500 people, some from as far way as Australia, attended the 'Procol Party'.

'I couldn't believe how far people came for the event,' said
Gary. 'One of the women from Australia even brought her baby.'

The Harlequin was picked by Gary's PA, Diane Rolph.

'I chose it because I knew the staff could cope,' said Diane.
'It was an amazing party. People still tell me it was one of the
best things they have ever been to.

'There's unending enthusiasm for everything to do with Gary
and Procol Harum.

'I first met Gary when I was 15. I went to hear his first-ever
band, the Paramounts, playing at
Addlestone Co-op Hall. I've been a fan and a friend ever since.'

Procol Harum initially retired in 1977, but reformed in 1991
and toured until 1996, testifying to the huge worldwide impact
the track and the band have made over the years.

Photo-caption: Gary Brooker, composer of A Whiter Shade of
Pale, has invited a lot of friends to his Civic Hall show,
but tickets are still available. Judging by who he's been playing
with lately, who knows who might turn up ...

BtP contacted Matt Ogborn to thank him for the
BtP name-check, and to see if Gary had mentioned any further
information about future recording projects, that had perhaps
ended up on the cutting-room floor. 'He said he hadn't had time
for ages to sit down and do any writing,' Matt reiterated;
nothing else of note remained in his memory of the ten-minute
telephone interview a week before; but he added that Gary was
'Very forthcoming, easy to talk to.'